Virginia Under the Gun: 4 Measures of Gun Violence and Gun Crime in Virginia

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1 Center for American Progress |  Virginia Under the Gun Virginia Under the Gun 4 Measures of Gun Violence and Gun Crime in Virginia By Chelsea Parsons, Tim Daly, and Eugenio Weigend October 27, 2015 In some respecs, gun violence in Virginia is y pical o ha in much o he naion. For example, Virginia ranked 28h o he 50 saes or he overall rae o gun deahs rom 2004 o 2013righ in he middle o he saes. 1  On he oher hand, Virginia has been he scene o some o he mos horric, high-prole acs o gun v iolence in recen mem- ory: he massacre a Virginia ech in 2007 and he on-air execuion o repor er Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward in Augus 2015. 2  In ac, in he eigh and a hal years since he mass shooing a Virginia ech, approximaely 7,173 Virginians have died by gunre. 3  Tese appalling incidens; Virginia’ s proximiy o he naion s capial; and he ac ha he Naional ie Associaion, or NR, i s headquarered in Virginia have made he commonwealh a naional bellweher or he debae over gun laws. In recen years, he gun issue has been vigorously conesed in poliical races across he sae. For example , during he 2013 saewide elecions, he NR and wo gun v iolence prevenion groupsAmericans or esponsible Soluions, a group ounded by ormer ep. Gabrielle Giords (D-AZ), and Independence USA, a polii cal acion commitee creaed by ormer New Y ork Ciy Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I)collecively spen close o $4 milli on atemping o inuence he oucome. 4  Ta year, all hree o he  winning candida es or saewide oceG ov . erry McAulie (D), L. Gov . alph Norham (D), and Atorney General Mark Herring (D)ook srong posiions in avor o srenghening gun laws, opposed he NR, and explicily campaigned on heir sup- por or common-sense gun laws. 5  Despie he success ha gun v iolence prevenion groups enjoy ed in he 2013 elec- ions, eors o srenghen gun laws in he sae legislaur e have remained salled. Te  Virginia le gislaure ev en aile d o ac on legi slaion o keep g uns ou o he hands o domesic abusersa law ha passed wih broad biparisan suppor in a number o oher saes 6 despie is successul passage in he sae Senae in 2014 afer a 29-6  voe. 7  Wih elecions or all seas in he sae General Assembly and Senae sched- uled or Novembe r 3, 2015, he issue o gun violence is once again on he minds o many Virginia voers. Gov. McAulie has coninued o ocus on his issue, recenly

Transcript of Virginia Under the Gun: 4 Measures of Gun Violence and Gun Crime in Virginia

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Virginia Under the Gun4 Measures of Gun Violence and Gun Crime in VirginiaBy Chelsea Parsons, Tim Daly, and Eugenio Weigend October 27, 2015

In some respec s, gun violence in Virginia is ypical o ha in much o he na ion. Forexample, Virginia ranked 28 h o he 50 s a es or he overall ra e o gun dea hs rom2004 o 2013 righ in he middle o he s a es.1 On he o her hand, Virginia has been

he scene o some o he mos horric, high-prole ac s o gun violence in recen mem-

ory: he massacre a Virginia ech in 2007 and he on-air execu ion o repor er AlisonParker and cameraman Adam Ward in Augus 2015.2 In ac , in he eigh and a hal yearssince he mass shoo ing a Virginia ech, approxima ely 7,173 Virginians have died bygunre.3 Tese appalling inciden s; Virginia’s proximi y o he na ion’s capi al; and he

ac ha he Na ional ie Associa ion, or NR, is headquar ered in Virginia have madehe commonweal h a na ional bellwe her or he deba e over gun laws.

In recen years, he gun issue has been vigorously con es ed in poli ical races across hes a e. For example, during he 2013 s a ewide elec ions, he NR and wo gun violencepreven ion groups Americans or esponsible Solu ions, a group ounded by ormer

ep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), and Independence USA, a poli ical ac ion commiteecrea ed by ormer New York Ci y Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) collec ively spenclose o $4 million atemp ing o inuence he ou come.4 Ta year, all hree o he winning candida es or s a ewide office Gov. erry McAuliffe (D), L . Gov. alphNor ham (D), and Atorney General Mark Herring (D) ook s rong posi ions in avoro s reng hening gun laws, opposed he NR, and explici ly campaigned on heir sup-por or common-sense gun laws.5

Despi e he success ha gun violence preven ion groups enjoyed in he 2013 elec-ions, effor s o s reng hen gun laws in he s a e legisla ure have remained s alled. Te

Virginia legisla ure even ailed o ac on legisla ion o keep guns ou o he hands odomes ic abusers a law ha passed wi h broad bipar isan suppor in a number oo her s a es6 despi e i s success ul passage in he s a e Sena e in 2014 afer a 29-6 vo e.7 Wi h elec ions or all sea s in he s a e General Assembly and Sena e sched-uled or November 3, 2015, he issue o gun violence is once again on he minds omany Virginia vo ers. Gov. McAuliffe has con inued o ocus on his issue, recen ly

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announcing six new execu ive ac ions o address gun violence in he s a e, includingcrea ing a join ask orce o prosecu e gun crimes, implemen ing a crime gun ipline,and providing raining or judges and prosecu ors o encourage domes ic abusers osurrender rearms.8 Gov. McAuliffe has also pledged o con inue pushing he s a elegisla ure o enac common-sense gun laws in he upcoming legisla ive session.9

Tis issue brie provides addi ional con ex abou wha is a s ake as Virginia vo ers con-sider which leaders hey wan o represen hem in ichmond. I discusses our aspec so gun violence and gun-rela ed crime in Virginia ha are excep ional, unique, or above

he na ional average:

1. More Virginians are killed annually by gunre han in car acciden s.2. Virginia is one o he op expor ers o crime guns.3. Women are killed wi h guns by in ima e par ners a a high ra e in Virginia.4. Virginia has been dispropor iona ely affec ed by mass shoo ings.

Te 2007 Virginia ech massacre remains he deadlies mass shoo ing in Americanhis ory. In i s wake, hen-Gov. im Kaine (D) ac ed o ensure ha more men alheal h records were accessible o he gun background check sys em afer he gap leddirec ly o he Virginia ech shoo ing.10 Since hen, he ra e a which Virginia submi smen al heal h records has grown subs an ially, and he s a e now ranks hird in hena ion:11 o da e, 224,079 records have been submited o he background check sys-

em.12 Ye effor s o con inue building on ha progress and s reng hen Virginia’s lawsand policies o address gun violence have been largely s ymied by he s a e legisla ure. Wi h 86 percen o Virginians suppor ive o legisla ion ha would require backgroundchecks or all gun sales,13 he issue o gun violence preven ion is cer ainly on many

vo ers’ minds as hey head o he polls.

1. More Virginians are killed annually by gunfire than in car accidents

For decades, more Americans have been killed annually in mo or vehicle acciden shan by gunre. In response o he ens o housands o car acciden dea hs every year,

elec ed officials, policymakers, and he car indus ry have aken a number o s eps oimprove mo or vehicle sa e y, including ga hering and analyzing car dea h da a, enhanc-ing car design, implemen ing beter echnology, and improving road sa e y.14 As a resulo his comprehensive approach o his public sa e y issue, he number o dea hs romcar acciden s across he coun ry has signican ly declined.15 While here were 40,965car acciden dea hs na ionwide in 1999, ha number dropped o 33,804 by 2013, a 17percen decrease. Virginia has ollowed a similar rend: From 1999 o 2013, car accidendea hs in he s a e declined 15 percen .16

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By con ras , ew na ional resources have been devo ed o unders anding gun violenceand developing a comprehensive, evidence-based approach o reducing gun dea hs. TeNR has effec ively blocked public heal h research in o gun dea hs hrough limi ingamendmen s o annual appropria ions bills or he Cen ers or Disease Con rol andPreven ion, or CDC, and he Na ional Ins i u es o Heal h, or NIH,17 and many legisla-

ive bodies have lacked he poli ical will o s reng hen gun laws. During he same period

ha U.S. dea hs due o car acciden s were declining, dea hs by gunre were rising: While here were 28,874 gun dea hs na ionwide in 1999, ha number increased o33,636 by 2013, a 16 percen increase.18

As a resul o he dispara e approaches o hese wo serious public heal h issues, he gap be ween gun-rela ed and vehicle-rela ed dea hs has shrunk signican ly in recen years. While he number o U.S. mo or vehicle acciden dea hs was 42 percen higher han gun-rela ed dea hs in 1999, his difference had decreased o less han 0.5 percen by 2013.19 A number o s udies have concluded ha hese lines will cross some ime his year, whengun dea hs ou pace dea hs due o car acciden s.20 A 2014 repor by Genera ion Progress

and he Cen er or American Progress projec ed ha 2015 will also be he year ha guns become he leading cause o dea h o young people in he Uni ed S a es.21

Virginia is one o 17 s a es, along wi h he Dis ric o Columbia, where hese lines havealready crossed.22 In 2009, guns accoun ed or he dea hs o more Virginians han caracciden s or he rs ime. In 2013, he mos recen year or which da a are available,gun dea hs were 17 percen higher han car acciden dea hs. I curren rends con inue,

he number o gun dea hs in Virginia will be 24 percen higher han he number o caracciden dea hs by he end o he nex assembly’s erm in 2017 and 31 percen higher by

he end o he nex Sena e’s erm in 2019.23

FIGURE 1

Gun- vs. vehicle-related deaths in Virginia, 1999–2019

Total number of deaths, 1999–2019

Source: Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data," availableat http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html (last accessed October 2015). Numbers from 2014 to 2019 are estimated based on 1999–2013 trends.

1999600

700

800

900

1000

1100

2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

Motor vehicle deathsGun deaths

Estimates

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2. Virginia is one of the top exporters of crime guns

When a gun is recovered a a crime scene, one o he rs challenges or inves iga ors isde ermining rom where he gun came. es ric ions on record keeping or gun pur-chases ha are codied in ederal law limi his inquiry o de ermining where he gun was rs sold a re ail and he iden i y o he rs re ail purchaser.24 o answer hese

ques ions, local law en orcemen urns o he Bureau o Alcohol, obacco, Firearms andExplosives, or A F, which can race guns rom manu ac urer hrough he rs poin osale. Par o he racing process involves iden i ying whe her a gun crossed s a e lines be ore being used in a crime. A signican number o crime guns do move rom s a e os a e: From 2012 o 2014, 29 percen o guns recovered in crimes and raced were rspurchased a re ail in ano her s a e.25

Virginia is one o he op source s a es or guns recovered in crimes in o her s a es. Duein par o he s a e’s weak gun laws and he rise o In ers a e 95 as a popular corridor

or gun raffickers, Virginia expor s a subs an ial number o crime guns.26 From 2012 o

2014, Virginia had he na ion’s nin h highes ra e o crime guns expor ed o o her s a es, wi h a ra e 61 percen higher han he na ional average. Moreover, wi h more han 7,700rearms purchased in Virginia and la er recovered a crime scenes in o her s a es, hes a e ranked hird in erms o he absolu e number o crime gun expor s. Only Georgiaand exas expor ed a higher number o crime guns 9,134 and 8,103, respec ively.27

Te movemen o guns across s a e lines rom s a es wi h weaker gun laws, such as Virginia, undermines o her s a es’ effor s o enac s rong gun laws and curb gun violence.From 2012 o 2014, 60 percen o crime guns raced back o Virginia were ei her recoveredin he Dis ric o Columbia or in one o he 10 s a es wi h he s ronges gun laws, according

o a ranking o s a e gun laws provided by he Law Cen er o Preven Gun Violence.28 Ananalysis o crime guns recovered in New York Ci y in 2011 revealed ha 90 percen came

rom ou o s a e, wi h more crime guns coming rom Virginia han rom any o her s a e.29

FIGURE 2

Comparison of crime guns exported to other states, 2012–2014

Crime guns exported to other states per every 100,000 residents, 2012–2014

Sources: Authors’ analysis of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, "Firearms Trace Data - 2013,” available at https://www.atf.gov- /about/rearms-trace-data-2013 (last accessed October 2015); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data - 2012,”available at https://www.atf.gov/about/rearms-trace-data-2012 (last accessed October 2015); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms andExplosives, "Firearms Trace Data - 2014,” available at https://www.atf.gov/about/rearms-trace-data-2014 (last accessed October 2015).

Virginia

Average rate of all states and the District of Columbia

19.4

31.2

61% higher

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3. Women are killed with guns by intimate partners at a high rate in Virginia

American women ace unique challenges when i comes o gun violence. S udies showha while hey are killed less requen ly han men, hey are much more likely o be mur-

dered by someone hey know. In he majori y o hese cases, he aggressor is an in ima epar ner.30 According o in orma ion rom he FBI, 34 percen o women murdered in he

Uni ed S a es rom 2004 o 2013 were killed by an in ima e par ner; 55 percen o hosemurders were commited wi h a rearm.31

Te risk o in ima e par ner gun homicides agains women is even higher in Virginia.From 2004 o 2013, 37 percen o emale murder vic ims in Virginia were killed by anin ima e par ner, and approxima ely 60 percen o hose murders were carried ou wi h arearm. Te s a e’s ra e o in ima e par ner gun homicides o women during his period was 21 percen higher han he na ional average.32 Addi ionally, Virginia ranks 16 h wors in he na ion or he ra e o in ima e par ner gun murders o women.33 Many per-pe ra ors o in ima e par ner homicide in Virginia have a his ory o domes ic violence. A

recen s udy by he Educa ional Fund o S op Gun Violence ound ha more han one-hird o perpe ra ors o in ima e par ner homicides in he s a e in 2014 had a his ory o

violence or hrea s agains he vic im and ha o hose perpe ra ors, 74 percen used agun o commi he murder.34

4. Virginia has been disproportionately affected by mass shootings

Te FBI denes mass shoo ings as inciden s in which our or more vic ims are killed wi h a rearm.35 While hey cons i u e a small por ion o overall gun violence in heUni ed S a es, mass shoo ings receive he bulk o he media’s aten ion and end ohave a pro ound impac on he popula ion. Moreover, research rom he HarvardSchool o Public Heal h shows ha he ra e o mass shoo ings in he Uni ed S a es has

ripled since 2011.36

FIGURE 3

Women murdered by an intimate partner with a rearmper every 100,000 women, 2004-2013

Source: Authors’ analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplemental Homicide Data (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004–2013).

Virginia

0.45National

0.37 21% higher

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Virginia ranks nin h among all o he s a es or he highes ra e o vic ims killed in massshoo ings.37 Tis is driven in large par by he Virginia ech massacre, in which 32people were murdered he wors mass shoo ing in American his ory o da e. Virginiahas also experienced a number o amily-rela ed mass shoo ings ha con ribu e o hisranking. Tese include a 2014 inciden in Culpeper, Virginia, in which a man a ally shohis wi e and hree daugh ers be ore aking his own li e.38 In a 2011 case, a man involved

in a cus ody dispu e a ally sho his wo children, heir mo her, and ano her man be orekilling himsel .39 When considering he raw number o vic ims o a al mass shoo ings, Virginia ranks our h highes overall, wi h 56 people killed in hese inciden s rom 2006

o Oc ober 2015.40 Overall, 1 in every 20 vic ims o a al mass shoo ings in he Uni edS a es rom 2006 o 2015 were killed in Virginia.41

Conclusion

Over he nex our years, an es ima ed 3,540 people will be killed wi h guns in Virginia i

curren rends con inue.42

Gun violence is an urgen public heal h issue ha demands aten ion and ac ion romhe s a e’s leadership. Tere is much more ha can be done o bo h s reng hen Virginia’s

laws o preven gun dea hs and reduce he illegal ow o guns across s a e lines in oo her communi ies being ravaged by gun violence. Upon beginning heir erm in January 2016, he newly elec ed members o he nex Virginia legisla ure should ake uplegisla ion ha would address key weaknesses in he s a e’s gun laws, including requiringuniversal background checks, prohibi ing domes ic abusers and s alkers rom buyingand possessing guns, and ensuring surrender o guns by all prohibi ed individuals.

Chelsea Parsons is the Vice President of Guns and Crime Policy at the Center for American Progress. Tim Daly is the Director for Campaigns and Eugenio Weigend is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Center’s Guns and Crime Policy team.

1 in every 20

victims of fatal mass

shootings in the

United States from2006 to 2015 were

killed in Virginia.

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Endnotes

1 Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data,” available at http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/fatal.html (last accessed October 2015).

2 Ian Shapira and Tom Jackman, “Gunman Kills 32 at Virginia Tech in Deadliest Shooting in U.S. History,”The WashingtonPost , April 17, 2007, available athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/16/AR2007041600533.html ; Michael D. Shear, Richard Perez-Peña, and Alan Blinder,“Ex-Broadcaster Kills 2 on Air in Virginia Shooting; Takes OwnLife,”The New York Times, August 26, 2015, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/us/wdbj7-virginia-journalists-shot-during-live-broadcast.html?_r=0 .

3 Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injur y Data.” To estimate the 2007 gundeaths after the Virginia Tech shooting, the authors dividedthe total number of 2007 gun deaths by 12—the totalnumber of months in a year—then multiplied that gureby 8, the number of months in 2007 after the Virginia Techshooting. They estimated 550 gun deaths during thosemonths in 2007. The number of gun deaths between 2008and 2013 came directly from CDC data—5,100 in total. Theauthors used the 1999–2013 trend to estimate the totalnumber of gun deaths in Virginia for 2014 and 2015—868during 2014. For the 2015 gun deaths, however, the authors

divided the estimated total number of gun deaths by 12and multiplied it by 9 to obtain the estimated number ofgun deaths in Virginia from January to September 2015—anestimated 655 during those months in 2015.

4 Peter Olsen-Phillips, “Both sides of gun debate see hopein Virginia elections,” Sunlight Foundation, November8, 2013, available at http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/08/nra-va/; Lauren Fox, “Gun Control GroupsClaim They Helped Beat Cuccinelli, But Did They?”,U.S.News & World Report , November 6, 2013, available at http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/11/06/gun-control-groups-claim-they-helped-beat-cuccinelli-but-did-they .

5 Alec MacGillis, “The NRA Lost a Big One in Virginia,”TheNew Republic , November 5, 2013, available at http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115480/terry-mcauliffes-gun-control-stance-virginia-gives-issue-new-life ; Alec MacGillis,“In Virginia, Another Sign of the Shifting Politics of GunControl,”The New Republic , June 4, 2013, available at http://

www.newrepublic.com/article/113377/virginia-lieutenant-governor-race-2013-democrats-talk-gun-control ; KevinO’Holleran, “Support for gun control helped a candi-date win in Virginia,” The Washington Post , December 1,2013, available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/support-for-gun-control-helped-a-candidate-win-in-virginia/2013/12/01/42ec3704-5943-11e3-ba82-16ed03681809_story.html .

6 For a discussion of domestic violence and gun bills thathave failed to advance in Virginia, see Educational Fund toStop Gun Violence, “Virginia’s Lethal Loopholes” (2015), p. 8,available at http://efsgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/VA-DV-Report.pdf . For a discussion of states that haveenacted legislation to prevent domestic abusers from ac-cessing guns, see Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “GunLobby Victories,” available at http://issuu.com/lcav/docs/trendwatch-nale-digital/4?e=0/14202191 (last accessedOctober 2015).

7 Office of state Sen. Barbara Favola, “Senator Favola’s SB510--Domestic Violence Bill Passes the Senate With Bipar-tisan Support,” Press release, February 7, 2014, available athttp://www.barbarafavola.org/news-events/senator-favo-las-sb510-domestic-violence-bill-passes-the-senate-with-bipartisan-support .

8 Commonwealth of Virginia Office of the Governor, “Execu-tive Order Number Fifty” (2015), available at https://gover-nor.virginia.gov/media/4685/eo-50-on-gun-violence-nal.pdf ; Graham Moomaw, “Taking executive actions on guns,McAuliffe bans rearms in most state offices,”RichmondTimes-Dispatch , October 15, 2015, available at http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/article_f7e89b21-078b-5a0c-beb5-c2787539f9db.html.

9 Moomaw, “Taking executive actions on guns, McAuliffe bansrearms in most state offices.”

10 Ian Urbina, “Virginia Ends a Loophole in Gun Laws,”The NewYork Times, May 1, 2007, available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/01/us/01guns.html?_r=0 .

11 Everytown for Gun Safety, “Closing the Gaps” (2015), avail-able at http://everytownresearch.org/documents/2015/04/closing-the-gaps.pdf.

12 Everytown for Gun Safety, “Fatal Gaps: Can DangerousPeople Buy Guns in Your State?”, available at http://act.everytown.org/sign/fatal-gaps (last accessed October 2015).

13 Public Policy Polling, “Virginia Odds and Ends,” July 21,2015, available at http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2015/07/virginia-odds-and-ends.html .

14 Violence Policy Center, “Gun Deaths Outpace Motor VehicleDeaths in 17 States and the District of Columbia” (2015),available at http://www.vpc.org/studies/gunsvscars15.pdf.

15 The Economist , “Bangers v bu llets,” January 10, 2015,available at http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21638140-gun-now-more-likely-kill-you-car-bangers-v-bullets .

16 Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data.”

17 Winnie Stachelberg, Arkadi Gerney, and Chelsea Parsons,“Blindfolded, and with One Hand Tied Behind the Back”(Washington: Center for American Progress, 2013), availableat https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/2013/03/19/56928/blindfolded-and-with-one-hand-tied-behind-the-back/ ; Everytown for Gun Safety, “AccessDenied: How the Gun Lobby is Depriving Police, Policy

Makers, and the Public of the Data we Need to Prevent GunViolence” (2013), available at http://everytownresearch.org/reports/access-denied/ .

18 Ibid.

19 Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data.”

20 Chris Christoff and Ilan Kolet, “American Gun Deaths toExceed Traffic Fatalities by 2015,” Bloomberg Business, De-cember 19, 2012, available at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-19/american-gun-deaths-to-exceed-traffic-fatalities-by-2015.

21 Chelsea Parsons and Anne Johnson, “Young Guns: HowGun Violence is Devastating the Millennial Generation”(Washington: Center for American Progress and GenerationProgress, 2014), available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/guns-crime/report/2014/02/21/84491/young-guns-how-gun-violence-is-devastating-the-millennial-gen-eration/ .

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22 Violence Policy Center, “Gun Deaths Outpace Motor VehicleDeaths in 17 States and the District of Columbia.”

23 Authors’ analysis of Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data.” As an important note, theCDC states that given change in the coding of mortalityafter 1999, individuals may not be able to compare thenumber of deaths from 1998 and before with such datafrom 1999 and after.

24 Stachelberg, Gerney, and Parsons, “Blindfolded, and withOne Hand Tied Behind the Back.”

25 Authors’ analysis of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsand Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data - 2014,” available athttps://www.atf.gov/about/rearms-trace-data-2014 (lastaccessed October 2015); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-arms and Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data - 2013,” availableat https://www.atf.gov/about/rearms-trace-data-2013 (last accessed October 2015); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data - 2012,” avail-able at https://www.atf.gov/about/rearms-trace-data-2012 (last accessed October 2015). In order to obtain the rate,the authors used 2012–2013 population data from Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention, “Injury Prevention &Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data.” Forthe 2014 population, the authors used the same popula-tion as 2013. As an important note, the authors only used2012–2014 data because ATF provides the number of tracedrearms to all states during those years, not just the topsource states, as was the agency’s previous practic e.

26 The Economist , “Trekking north,” September 30, 2010, avail-able at http://www.economist.com/node/17151375 .

27 Authors’ analysis of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsand Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data - 2014”; Bureau of Alco-hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “Firearms Trace Data -2013”; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,“Firearms Trace Data - 2012.”

28 Ibid. The 10 states with the strongest gun laws are: Cali-fornia, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland,Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. SeeLaw Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “2014 Annual Gun LawState Scorecard,” December 12, 2014, available at http://smartgunlaws.org/2014-annual-gun-law-state-scorecard/ .

29 City of New York, “Mayor Bloomberg, Police CommissionerKelly And Criminal Justice Coordinator Feinblatt ReleaseNew Data Showing Increase In Percentage Of Out-of-stateGuns Used To Commit Crimes In New York City,” Pressrelease, July 31, 2013, available at http://www1.nyc.gov/of-ce-of-the-mayor/news/263-13/mayor-bloomberg-police-commissioner-kelly-criminal-justice-coordinator-feinblatt-release-new#/3; New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, “Whatstate is #1 in crime guns into NYC? It’s Virginia!”, August 2,2013, available at http://nyagv.org/what-state-is-1-in-crime-guns-into-nyc-its-virginia/.

30 Arkadi Gerney and Chelsea Parsons, “Women Under theGun: How Gun Violence Affects Women and 4 Policy Solu-tions to Better Protect Them” (Washington: Center for Amer-ican Progress, 2014), available at https://www.american-progress.org/issues/guns-crime/report/2014/06/18/91998/women-under-the-gun/.

31 Authors’ analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation,Supplemental Homicide Data (U.S. Department of Justice,2004–2013). “Intimate partner” includes boyfriends, girl-friends, husbands, wives, ex-wives, ex-husbands, commonlaw wives, and common law husbands.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid.

34 Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, “Virginia’s LethalLoopholes.”

35 William J. Krouse and Daniel J. Richardson, “Mass Murderwith Firearms: Incidents and Vic tims, 1999-2013” (Wash-ington: Congressional Research Service, 2015), availableat http://www.impsec.org/~jhardin/gunstuff/writings/Congressional_Research_Service-Firearm_Mass_Murders-R44126.pdf .

36 Amy P. Cohen, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, “Rate ofMass Shootings Has Tripled Since 2011, Harvard ResearchShows,” Mother Jones , October 15, 2014, available at http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/mass-shootings-increasing-harvard-research .

37 Authors’ analysis ofUSA Today , “Behind the Bloodshed,”available at http://www.gannett-cdn.com/GDContent/mass-killings/index.html#title (last accessed October 2015). The authors analyzed the total number of victims killed byrearms in mass killings in the U.S. between 2006 and 2015,not including the District of Columbia. In order to obtain therate, the authors used the 2006–2013 population from Cen-

ters for Disease Control and Prevention, “Injury Prevention& Control: Data & Statistics (WISQARS): Fatal I njury Data.” Forthe 2014 and 2015 populations, the authors used the samepopulation as 2013.

38 Hank Silverberg, “Police: VA. man shot wife, 3 kids in murder-suicide,” USA Today , August 4, 2014, available at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/04/culpeper-mass-shooting/13570073/

39 Ian Simpson, “Five shooting deaths in Virginia home calledmurder-suicide,” Reuters, December 19, 2011, available athttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/19/us-virginia-bodies-idUSTRE7BI1XO20111219.

40 Authors’ analysis ofUSA Today , “Behind the Bloodshed.”

41 Ibid.

42 This estimate refers to the years from 2016 to 2019. Projec-tion based on authors’ analysis of gun deaths in Virginiafrom 1999 to 2013 from Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, “Injury Prevention & Control: Data & Statistics(WISQARS): Fatal Injury Data.”